Prathiksha Srinivasan, was among the nine writers chosen out of 2,000 submissions for an eight-month-long HBO writers fellowship that will be held at the HBO campus in Santa Monica, Calif., according to Deadline.

Srinivasan, an Indian American who grew up in the bustling city of Chennai, said her love of writing stems from the Hindu myths her grandmother told her throughout her childhood.

Moving to America was a culture shock that resulted in her passion for characters who are stuck between where they come from and where they are going. Srinivisan has a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Her partner, Levy, is a twenty-something who writes about his unique family, friends and experiences.

He credits his Chinese grandmother, a survivor of WWII, and his father, a street-kid from the projects in Brooklyn, for giving him his obsession with storytelling.

The program includes one week of master classes where the fellows will participate in discussions with HBO executives and showrunners. Discussions will focus on character, story development, pitching, securing representation, and building a professional network.

Each participant will be paired with an HBO development executive who will serve as his/her mentor throughout the next eight months.

At the conclusion of the program, HBO will hold a reception and staged reading for industry professionals as the writers are introduced to the entertainment industry.

HBO launched its inaugural writers fellowship on the heels of the success of its HBOAccess directors fellowship last year.

Four diverse, emerging directors were selected to go through a series of lectures and classes with HBO executives, mentors, and industry professionals. The program concluded with the production of four short films that can currently be seen on HBO NOW and HBO GO.

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